


When We Meet Again

by sungjinssmile



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, Reincarnate, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21900901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sungjinssmile/pseuds/sungjinssmile
Summary: "I'll be back tomorrow, that's a promise.""I'll be waiting."
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28





	When We Meet Again

**Author's Note:**

> hello this is my first ever au and its a one shot cos i dont have the patience for really long stories HAHA
> 
> this was also inspired by the manilaencounters hashtag on twitter hehe

“Did I forget something?” 

Wonpil looks back at Jae. The latter stands a few steps behind, tapping his pants pockets and looking in his backpack, checking if he left something important in the coffee shop. Wonpil waits patiently.

Jae gasps, turning to Wonpil. “I forgot to remind you how handsome I am today,” he says. Wonpil hits him playfully on the shoulder, then they continue their walk home. 

“But Jae-hyung, it seems like you’ve been feeling forgetful lately, even though you don’t actually forget anything,” Wonpil murmurs, staring up at the night sky. The moon is full and shining bright overhead, adorned by the light of the streetlamps and stars.

Jae just hums in agreement. It isn’t like him to be forgetful of details, events or things, but lately, his brain’s been telling him that something’s missing, that he forgot something important. He’s looked at calendars, arranged and rearranged his whole flat, but that feeling is still bugging him.

Jae sighs his thoughts away and turns to ask Wonpil instead, finding that the other had started skipping. “Are you night shift for tomorrow?”

“No,” Wonpil replies as he continues to skip up the metal stairs that lead to an overpass.

“Aw man, I’ll have to walk alone,” Jae begins, but as he reaches the top of the stairs, the rest of his sentence gets lost in his throat. Wonpil hardly notices and just keeps skipping, leaving Jae standing at the start of the overpass.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared Jae-hyung,” he laughs.

Jae doesn’t hear. All his senses are focused on something glowing white in the middle of the bridge.

_What is that?_

Something is standing in the middle of the overpass, leaning over the right railing. Jae’s first thought is _it’s the moon._ That it got so bored of space it decided to kill time on Earth instead. So Jae looks up, but the moon is still high up in the sky, still surrounded by stars, still out of reach.

“Jae-hyung!” 

Jae looks back down to find Wonpil already on the other side, looking amused at Jae’s baffled expression. “What are you doing?” 

Jae’s eyebrows meet in the middle of his forehead. Why is Wonpil unbothered by that too bright, too white thing? “You can’t see that?” Jae asks, raising a hand towards the glowing figure on the bridge.

It’s Wonpil’s turn to scrunch his eyebrows and he says something, he _definitely_ says something, but the thing on the bridge turns its head to Jae and makes eye contact with him, so Jae is too busy absorbing the fact that the thing is actually a _person_ who looks so surprised to see him, too busy getting surprised back to be able to process whatever it was that Wonpil said.

Then, as if the eye contact triggered it, Jae feels the loneliness coming from the glowing person like ocean waves trying to pull him down, down, down.

That’s when Jae finally thinks _it's a ghost. A ghost with all the loneliness of the moon._

“Jae-hyung!” Suddenly, Wonpil’s in front of Jae, shaking the older’s shoulders slightly. 

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Wonpil exclaims worriedly, looking into Jae’s eyes, but it’s only after a few seconds that Jae finally sees him and not through him.

“Let’s go,” Jae lets out, his voice shaking slightly. Wonpil only nods before he takes Jae’s left wrist and leads him to the other end of the overpass. 

As they approach the person, _the ghost_ , leaning on the railing, the feeling of loneliness gets so strong Jae could feel his heart throbbing and pulsing, and it’s almost a struggle to breathe. His eyes are cast down, avoiding having to meet the ghost’s eyes again.

The pair stumble to the end of the overpass, and as Wonpil starts his descent, Jae glances back. _I can’t help it,_ he thinks as he finds for the foxlike eyes of the ghost. Jae makes eye contact again and it takes everything in him to look away and start climbing down.

The steps are a blurry mess and Jae can’t make out what shoes he’s wearing as he thinks _the ghost is a boy. A guy. A man? Someone who looks the same age as me._

It’s only when Wonpil lets go of his wrist at the bottom of the stairs that Jae realizes why everything is blurry despite his eyeglasses. He’s thankful for Wonpil’s silence as he wipes the tears off his cheeks and chin.

“Let’s not go this way next time,” Jae mumbles. Wonpil nods, and the two continue in silence.

***

Jae is so out of it at work the next night that he wishes he just stayed home.

“I already told you,” his manager starts, “it’s fine to call in sick if you’re actually sick.”

“I’m not sick,” Jae claims, though he knows Sungjin is going to bring up the fact that he just messed up his fifth order of the night, arguing that he is sick.

“This is the sixth order you messed up, Jae.” Sungjin says under his breath before apologizing and handing the correct drink to a waiting customer.

"Sixth? I can swear that was only my fifth…" Jae tries to explain, but Sungjin turns to stare him down with his one eyebrow up that Jae shuts right up.

With his hands on his hips, Sungjin gives the older guy a long once-over. Dishevelled hair, troubled eyes, unsteady hands, crinkly uniform. Sungjin has to admit, it isn't a very good image for someone who just started working yesterday.

“Do us both a favor and tap out early,” he says, turning to the dispensers. “You look like you didn’t bother getting a wink of sleep last night.”

***

 _That’s because I_ didn't _sleep last night._

Jae just exited the little coffee shop, not forgetting to thank Sungjin on his way out. He sets to walk home, the moon lighting his path.

It’s not that Jae’s scared of ghosts. He’s never even seen a ghost, so he’s not sure if what he saw on the overpass last night was a ghost. But what else could it, _he_ , have been if not a ghost? A spirit? A hallucination? A long-forgotten memory?

No, it doesn’t really matter if what he saw really was a ghost, it was the crush on his heart that kept him from sleeping. The ghost’s loneliness was a black abyss, pulling Jae in and eventually sticking with him so much so it felt like his own. His heart was shattering like a fallen vase, the pain emanating physically that it was all he could do not to take painkillers.

“Wait, did I forget something?” 

And there it is again, the unshakeable feeling of leaving something behind. Jae taps his pockets for his phone, searches his bag for his keys and wallet. All are in their respective places, yet his mind is scattered all over the place.

The familiar surroundings at least help to calm Jae’s mind. The rhythm of his shoes on the gravel, the quaint atmosphere of the street as everyone else falls into their night time routines, the occasional rush as a car passes by. The monotonous clang of the metal stairs as he climbs them is in sync with the dull beat of his heart, like an open wound. Still throbbing with pain, but something you can get used to.

Jae sighs as he reaches the top of the stairs, feeling heavy and wanting to lie in bed and sleep forever.

It’s only when he meets the eyes of the ghost that Jae’s fatigue melts away.

His first thought as his eyes go wide is _Is the ghost following me?_ But then he realizes.

The familiar route.

The metal clanging under his steps.

Jae looks around and sure enough, he’s back on the overpass from last night.

And the ghost is leaning right there in the middle, just like last night.

_I’m so out of it, I didn’t even remember to avoid this place._

The ghost, _a ghost?,_ is still looking at him and although Jae’s instincts are screaming _FLIGHT_ , his feet don’t move. He doesn’t turn back. He just stares into the ghost’s foxlike eyes and then he thinks _his loneliness isn’t just pulling me down, it’s pulling me towards him._

And then the ghost breathes “Jae?”, and that’s when Jae realizes that _he looks so familiar_ and _did he just say my name?_ and _a ghost is talking to me_ and _I can see and hear a ghost_ and _why is everything blurry and bright?_

The sheer mass of questions and thoughts and images and _memories?_ that flash in Jae's mind forces him to take a step back, a step back into metal stairs he isn't aware of until it's too late.

All Jae could do is close his eyes as he falls forward, forward and down down down into cold arms.

_Wait, aren't I supposed to fall backwards?_

And so, Jae opens his eyes from the shock of what happened instead of the impact of the fall, and meets the eyes of the ghost for the second time tonight. 

Both lie in a tangle of long legs and arms with Jae pressing his full weight on the ghost without realising, his backpack digging into his back. Jae's eyeglasses slipped off his face during the fall, _that's why it's blurry_ , he thinks as he scrambles off the ghost and slips off his bag from his shoulders, but his face is wet so he must be crying, too. Again.

 _Why can't I stop crying?_ Jae's on all fours, trying to find his glasses, that's if they haven't already fallen through the side of the overpass.

_Why am I crying?_

He gives up and leans on the railing. For a moment, he forgets the ghost and focuses on breathing. He ignores the foreign whirling flashes of memories in his brain and wipes his tears. But his heart is aching and screaming in his ribs, it's like the only way to ease the pain is to continue crying. 

To curl his knees against his chest and sob. 

To let foggy memories become crystal clear.

To remember what he forgot.

***

Jae doesn't know how long he's been sitting like some poor soul on the overpass. He's guessing it's too late, too late for bypassers, too late to be awake, too late to be crying himself senseless for no goddamn reason.

But there's a reason, isn't there?

A reason embodied by the ghost, who sat himself to Jae's right while he was sorting his head out, letting memories of a past life flood him. Flood him with happiness, then when there wasn't any space left, the happiness was snatched and replaced with sorrow, a sorrow he hadn't known in this life.

Jae lifts his head to look at the ghost beside him. It's a face he's never seen, but he just knows, _I know his name is Younghyun._ He still glows white, and now that Jae's so near, he could feel a pulsing wave crawl beneath his skin, steady as a heartbeat. He lets it wash over him, somehow relieved that he isn't the only one in this overpass who has an aching heart.

The ghost, _Younghyun_ , extends a hand and there on his palm lies Jae's glasses. He takes them and slips them on.

"Are you a ghost?" Jae asks. He stares at Younghyun's face just as Younghyun is staring at him, and although he's never seen that face in his life, his mind tells him he's memorized every plane of it. He could almost feel the memory of that same face beneath his fingers. 

In the back of his eyelids, a film was rolling out where the corners of Younghyun's mouth curled into a smile or twisted into a frown. All his focus is trained to the film reel of memories of Younghyun's eyes filling with surprise, pure joy, love, and regret that he almost didn't hear Younghyun say "I'm not sure myself." 

Jae snaps back to the present and sees a Younghyun whose lips are drawn in a tight line of anticipation, whose eyes are so full of hope, it's hard to notice all the hurt underneath.

"You're dead, but you can touch me," Jae states. He should be at the bottom of the stairs now, with a concussion at best, in a coma at worst; but he isn't, so his best guess is Younghyun pulled him forward.

"That sounds about right," Younghyun nods. He isn't looking at Jae anymore. "You're as clumsy as ever," he adds in a murmur, not sure if Jae caught it. He's about to say something, but Younghyun cuts in first, his words dripping with hesitation, maybe desperation. 

"Do you remember me?" 

Jae just stares at the other's profile. _How can I remember someone I've never even met?_

"You're Younghyun," Jae starts slowly. He sees Younghyun's breath hitch in his throat. He sees him swallow, and it's like it's not the first time he's seen such a sight.

"We," Jae looks back at Younghyun's eyes, the other looking up at the sky, at the moon that doesn't shine quite as bright as him. "We were together. I left. I promised to return, you waited for me, right here," Jae looks away as a tear falls from his eyes.

"But I didn't come back."

There's silence and a hundred years between them as Jae lets the words sink in, forming a knife that pierces his heart.

"But here you are, a few lifetimes later," Younghyun laughs, even though his laugh comes out dry. Even though it sounds more like a sob if you listen right.

And what else is left for Jae to do other than cry some more?

Because what Younghyun said is true. In a life past this one, in a life where he isn't Park Jaehyung, he promised a smiling Younghyun that he'll be back.

The next day came but he didn't.

Day turned into night, and Younghyun wasn't smiling anymore. 

Two nights turned into a week, a week into a fortnight, turned into a month, then a year, and tirelessly, Younghyun would wait on the overpass every night, holding on to _promise._

"I'm sorry," Jae chokes out. He pulls his hair out of frustration. He doesn’t look into Younghyun's eyes anymore. 

How could he? 

"For–for what?" Younghyun asks, his words stumbling, slippery and wet with his own tears. He tries not to, but a sob escapes his lips and he has to bite the back of his hand.

"I don't know why I left," Jae whispers. "I don't know why I didn't come back." 

And that’s the truth of it all. 

Because despite all the memories that came rushing back, none of them explained why their heartache exists. 

"It's funny, 'cause I never called you Jae," Younghyun says now. He's still looking up at the night sky, remembering all the nights he sat in this same position even after death. He had seen seeds become trees and this overpass withstand time. Through all those years, he didn’t shed a tear. But now, his face is a mess and he's crying just as much as the boy beside him. "You were Yeoreum to me." 

Jae laughs at this, and it's a sincere laugh that surprises them both. "Then why'd you call me Jae a while ago?" he asks, looking back at Younghyun, seeing for the first time the tears that are falling. He dies a bit inside as he wonders how many nights exactly did Younghyun spend alone, with only the moon to keep him company. Jae gives in to the urge of reaching out and wiping Younghyun's left cheek. Younghyun gasps at the warmth of Jae's hand, but eventually leans into it, tears slipping down Jae's wrist.

Jae shivers, not so much because of Younghyun's cold skin, but more so because to him, it's as if he's reliving a memory. His mind pulls him back to when they’d fight and Jae would say sorry, a hand on the other’s cheek. He’s done this enough times to memorize every curve of Younghyun's face; how high up his cheekbones are, how the shape of his lips feel.

"I just heard your friend call you that yesterday," replies Younghyun. "I figured you wouldn't respond if I called you Yeoreum."

Jae hums. "You're skin is so soft. It's hard to believe you're at least a hundred years old."

Magically, Younghyun _laughs_ and to Jae, it sounds like wind chimes by the sea. A memory of them slow dancing by the moonlit ocean flashes in his mind. He brings his other hand to Younghyun's hair, its softness reminding him of when they would mess around in the early morning sun streaming into their bedroom. He remembers kissing Younghyun’s nose, so he does that now.

”I remember,” Jae starts, then his lips move to place a kiss on Younghyun’s forehead. “We’d take turns cooking for each other.”

Younghyun nods and closes his eyes, his hands savoring the warmth of Jae’s wrists. He hears Jae murmur “You were definitely the better cook,” as he gets another kiss at the corner of his right eye. He smiles as he’s kissed on the nose again. His cheeks. Forehead.

Lips. Lips. Lips.

Younghyun breathes a light laugh and opens his eyes. Jae’s face is twisted in a frown and his cheeks are decorated with tears, so Younghyun’s hands fly up to wipe them away. He lets out a hush, but Jae just shakes his head. _I’m so sorry._ Jae’s remembering the little things, the small but certain happiness they had together. Somehow, those hurt him more.

”We canvassed for bigger houses to move into.” Jae holds onto Younghyun’s shoulders, his head spinning with the memories that hadn’t stopped flooding in from moments ago. “We were looking at orphanages.” A sob escapes his lips but he doesn’t hear himself. Younghyun’s laughter keeps playing in his mind. “We wanted a kid.”

Younghyun stares as fresh tears roll down his cheeks. He was hurting on this overpass for a hundred years, but that doesn’t amount to the pain he feels when he hears Jae sob. 

”Please don’t cry,” Younghyun whispers.

And although Jae’s senses are flooded with Younghyun’s glow, his laugh, his smile, his cooking, his warmth, his coldness, and his _smile_ again, Jae hears Younghyun’s whisper.

And everything stops spinning.

He’s still crying, _of course I’m still crying_ , and he tries blinking away the tears as he lets go of Younghyun’s shoulders.

”I _should_ be crying, Younghyun.” Jae pleads. The rest of the world couldn’t hear what he said, but to the both of them, it rang as loud as a shout. “Give me your pain.”

Younghyun just shakes his head furiously.

”I didn’t come back to you. I left you waiting!” Jae cries. Suddenly, he wants the memories to come rushing back. Because even after all this, he still doesn’t know why he broke his promise.

”You’re here now,” Younghyun says as he moves to slip Jae’s glasses off. It’s his turn to kiss the other one’s nose.

Jae’s not having it. How can the person he left still bear to see him after all this time? He places his hands on Younghyun’s shoulders again to keep him away. He tries not to, but the lodge in his throat keeps him from whispering and all he could do is shout. “Why aren’t you mad?”

”Because I love you!”

It’s Younghyun’s turn to shout, which he immediately regrets. Jae’s hands stop pushing and he breaks into more tears.

”I feel worse seeing you like this,” Younghyun continues, his voice back to a whisper. “I _chose_ to wait. That pain is mine.” He gives Jae’s lips a tender kiss. Jae’s tense shoulders relax and his hands find their way to Younghyun’s face again as his tears subside.

”We can’t rewind time,” Younghyun starts. He was about to call Jae the name he knew him as, but he stopped himself. “What matters to me right now,” he pauses to kiss Jae again. “Is that you’re back.”

”So stay with me until the day breaks.”

They fall into silence. They stay like this, soaking in each other's presence and filling in the gaps in their hearts, until the sky readies itself to wake the rest of the world.

It's also when Jae realizes that he doesn't feel the heavy wave of loneliness from Younghyun anymore.

By now, the two are leaning into each other as Younghyun hums an old tune, and although Jae's sure he hasn't heard of the song, he hums along perfectly.

"This is all I ever hoped for, you know?" Younghyun starts, shifting his weight off of Jae. "To see you for one last time."

"Closure," Jae nods. He looks up at the purple sky. The sun hasn't risen yet and the moon is still twinkling with the stars above. 

"To be able to say goodbye."

Jae turns to look at Younghyun, meaning to quip a joke, but he's met with cold air.

Younghyun's bright but soft, warm glow disappeared.

His eyes that Jae's mind keeps repeating filled with different emotions are nowhere to be found.

Younghyun is gone.

***

Jae's smile fades away with the dim stars.

His first thought is _Am I dreaming?_ then _I haven't slept for a hundred years_ then _I forgot something?_ then _Younghyun!_

He stands in a rush, almost tumbling over as the overpass spins under his feet, his vision fuzzy despite his dry eyes. Jae turns in a full circle, his own heart running in circles in his very cramped chest.

Jae whispers, "He's gone?" but he hears it as a shout, his hand flying up to the side of his head. The clanging of metal startles him and he whips his head to the right where the sun is about to rise, where a silhouette is making its way to cross the overpass.

Jae's heart is about to feel relief and his legs are about to make their way to the person when he realizes.

_That's not who I'm looking for._

The silhouette is of a middle-aged man dressed in office clothes. He doesn't even spare Jae a glance as he passes in front of him, heading to wherever he is needed. Jae just stares dumbfounded as a cloud begins to form in his head.

_Who am I looking for?_

The last of the stars fade against the sunrise, but the moon still hangs in the sky. Jae looks up at it as his heart falls straight down to his feet. The soft, not anymore bright glow of the moon bathed in morning sun will now forever remind Jae of Younghyun–

Suddenly, the clouds in Jae's mind roll out, and he's fishing for his phone. He types his password in twice, but he keeps getting it wrong. _Where are my glasses?_ He finds them beside his bag, but he still can't see the numbers with how much they blurred no matter how many times he swipes at his eyeglasses. It takes him three more attempts before his phone unlocks.

He sits against the railing, then he types. Messily. But the typos don't matter, as long as he types everything down before he forgets again. 

__

Today i met younghyun. last nifht. last last night. here on the ocverpass. i held his face in my hand. i wa crying. i Am crying. and maybe my heart is broken because i left him before, and now hes legft me. 

It takes two people pointedly staring at him before Jae decides to get up, fetch his bag, and head back home. He takes his glasses off and wipes at his face, knowing that his eyes have swollen over. Once at the bottom of the stairs, he looks back to the middle of the overpass, the last words he typed imprinting into his mind, his heart, his soul.

__

in this life or in another, we will meet again. and i swear on the moon, both of us wont have to leave 

***

Jae called in sick for work for two days.

Now he’s back in the coffee shop on his first morning shift. Wonpil welcomed him warmly while Sungjin nodded at him with squinted eyes.

“I promise I won’t get sick for the remainder of this month.” Jae says as he preps the tea dispensers.

“It’s the last day of the month, Jae,” Sungjin replies as the door chime rings. Jae looks at his manager to see a glimmer in his eyes, and that’s when he knows he’s in good hands.

“Jae,” Wonpil calls. "One iced americano."

Jae salutes and works on the drink. It’s technically only his third shift at the coffee shop so his mind couldn’t drift off as he goes about his task, but he hums the tune Younghyun had hummed on the overpass. But instead of feeling like his heart is splitting into two or like he’s forgetting something, Jae feels hope. As if the hundred years of hope Younghyun had carried had transferred into Jae’s heart. 

After reading the order again as to make sure he hadn’t messed up, Jae fills a cup Wonpil had already written a name on. He calls out “one iced americano for Brian” as he takes some tissues and a straw. And with that hopeful tune flowing out of his lips, he hands the drink to a customer whose ears prick with familiarity. 

“Hey, I know that song.” 

Jae stops humming and focuses on the customer who he had just handed a drink to.

A customer who had foxlike eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> sungjinssmile on twitter ^^


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